Today Russian Fashion Week opened the doors at the Congress Center in Moscow, where numerous Russian and foreign designers will be presenting their 2009 a/w collections throughout the next week. One of the exhibiting menswear designers is Oleg Biryukov, who drew inspiration for his collection from the art and dress of the Byzantine Empire.Mostly everyone knows something about ancient Rome, the center of the Roman Empire. But how often do you watch a movie or read a novel on Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire? Eventually Byzantium came to be called Constantinople—the New Rome—and later, Istanbul!
What we term the Byzantine Empire merely refers to the Medieval Roman Empire that continued in the East as an economic power, trading heavily in textiles! What we must bear in mind, however, was that Byzantium was a Greek speaking empire of Greek culture. Although Byzantine dress was considered conservative, the Byzantines adored bright colors and elaborate patterns of embroidered imagery, worn primarily by the upper classes.
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire, becoming the Third Rome—hence the title of “Tsar,” which mutated from ‘Cesar’! Hinting to the painted glass and colored enamels in the Byzantine mosaics, Oleg Biryukov continues the legacy at Russian Fashion Week! Piecing emerald and purple on the backdrop of blue and gold, Oleg enforces the strict norms and canons of Byzantine iconography, which depicts the physical world as a mere reflection of heavenly realities. Instead of hiding behind pretty words or embellished ideas, Oleg exemplifies the truth that modesty can beautify!
Photos Copyright by Oleg B!ryukov.
